I have worked on Tractors in my life but have nt had to deal with forklifts other than driving them, I bought a Clark C300-40 at auction it starts and runs great and owner said it had the brakes redone which are working good. The hydraulics all work properly.
The quirk that it has it is when shifting into forward or reverse it does not move right away. You have to turn the steering wheel from left to right and then it seems you hit the sweetspot and it will start moving forward or reverse and then goes fine. The steering seems to be running on a separate hydraulics with the front forks.
Now upon remove the floor plate and exposing the transmission, the linkage from the shifter connects to a small shaft. That connection and shaft seems loose and has a lot of play or wear moving between F and R when. Have to hold the shifter forward to engage the starter due to safety switch on the loose shaft on the transmission top plate. Also there is a another valve that is actuated when brakes are pushed. I am trying to find a service manual to find out the mysteries of all the valves and actuators on the tranny and to increase my knowledge on this machine. But thought i would throw it out here to get direction on a fix or remedy
Showing items 1 - 10 of 10 results.
Yes my plan is to do some repairs as i gather more info on machine. Thank you eor the feedback and assistance
Happy New Year
I appreciate your effort, Chris. I was dealing with the same problem because of dirty fluid then I consult with a trained forklift driver, he gives me some tips to move it easily. Now it works well.
good deal Chris,
those cylinders (master and inching and even wheels), should return on their own because they have a spring internally, there is a return spring on the brake pedal linkage at the pedal i think but that's just for the pedal assy.
The helper spring should be just fine but in the near future you may want to drain the fluid and remove the master and inching and clean them out. Also at some point if you ever have to do the brake shoes you may want to consider doing the same to those wheel cylinders.
Dirty fluid can cause those plungers to stick like that.
Glad you got it worked out though.
Merry Christmas and have an awesome New Year!
Was able to solve problem for the short term. It is a C300-40 I tried to put up a picture of plat. I was able to install a pictur but it was not allowed. Was able to put a longer bolt into the inching valve clamp it allowed me to install a return spring. I could push in the valve and it would take off just fine. Push the brakes and it would return to not going into forward or reverse. After spring was put in to put return pressure on the valve it would engage right away and could brake and return to drive mode.
hey chris,
after looking at a model serial number decoding chart i have from promatch that covers older lifts up to around 2012. I'm wondering about this model number and serial number you've posted. I do know clark was pretty crappy when it came to stamping their dataplates and sometimes their numbers didn't come out clear.
I wonder if possible the model could have been a C500-40
and the serial number may have been something like 355 817 4631 11-81
I'm not 100% sure on the serial number part though, i do remember when i ever went to a clark dealership they did want the serial number because they had some special decoding system they used to get the correct literature on the truck. The end of that serial number you gave 'might be' a year but i doubt it because the decoding section in my promatch stuff doesn't mention any years. I think hyster and yale were the only ones that did that designation in their serial numbering system.
You're correct though to go to clark and have them help you with this.
yes on the starting switch is the sloppy shaft input. There is no steering issue or lift and tilt the hydraulics driven off the engine Hyd pump works great. It is when you shift into F or R and rev the engine it does not go. But when you turn the steering from lock to lock it will like hit a spot and it will move and then will go fine it is just the initial getting moving. Do not know if the back wheels moving and getting the front wheels to move somewhat gets something going. The inch vale does not seem to have pressure on when brakes are not engaged. Looks like the top plate on the transmission needs to come off and replace some bushings or linkage shafts. But first need more documentation. Working with a local Clark distributor to see if more info can be had. does the 81 at the end of the serial number stand for year of manufacture?
That serial number says its a 356 series, unfortunatly i do not have that literature on that series so i cannot with any certainty tell you what pressures to check for.
the sloppy linkage can cause a starting problem because it may not be letting it return to "true" neutral, the neutral start switch if not centered will not allow the truck to start. This is why your having to move the lever around to get it to start.
The brake valve on the side of the transmission is the inching valve, this disengages the clutches when the brake pedal is depressed.
The sloppy linkage MAY be causing your slow engaging problem if the spool is not moving completely in place to change the flow at first, it may be on the verge of being engaged and as the engine is running vibration may be allowing it move farther after a bit.
Your steering issue i'm not sure about, there are a couple things that can cause steering problems, one is low engine idle rpm's, if too low can cause a low pressure scenario which may not be enough to allow for hydraulic and steering simultaneously. Most trucks have a steering priority valve that works inline with the hydraulic system and allows some pressure to be prioritized to steering full time. Low rpm's or low pressure may cause the valve not to shift properly and it could be effecting the steering.
One other cause would be a bad or low pressure situation on the steering orbital valve on the steering wheel column, i would check that pressure and also check the pressure relief valve for a broken spring. Check the oil supply and make sure it is getting fluid, there will be a pressure line connecting that you can put a pressure guage on, may be able to tap the hydraulic control valve at the steering pressure port which is usually located on the main hydraulic control valve auxillary side.
. F and R shaft very sloppy and lot of play and does the adjustment of the brake valve effect the transmission. I assume that it to disengage trans when brakes are pushed
Have pictures but cannot post
would it be possible to get the full model and serial number off of the dataplate?
C300-40 doesnt give me enough info to find the information i need.
The serial number contains the series number which is what i need.
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